rotting face

[mark razmandi]

glad to hear things are going better

[aggrofishkeeper]

Or wait and find out what disease your Oscar really has, but by that time, your Oscar is probably too far gone to even try to save it. You can skip medication and go straight to raising the temperature and adding salt to the tank, and keep up water changes....Daily.

[nacra99]

I have also not heard of a bump or sore turning into a crater/hole with any diagnosis of HITH.

Well... it is actually quite consistent with Heximita. He did mention a "pimple" which grew and eventually burst open. And besides, Angels, Discus & Oscars seem to be particularly susceptible to Hex.

This is still being debated, but people think that HITH is an external form of Hex.
Either way, treatment is Metro in the water to target the sore + metro in the food to target the digestive tract (+ optionally a second broad spectrum antibiotic to prevent secondary infections.

[nacra99]

Soaking his food every day in Vita-Chem. Early on, I used Tetracycline with no noticeable improvement. About midway through, I used Ick-Attack since it's organic, with no noticeable improvement. Since soaking his food in vitamins, the top sore is completely healed and the bottom sore is almost gone. It's been 6 1/2 weeks since the sores showed up. The vitamin recommendation came from an aquatic vet I emailed.

Makes sense..... Hex in the digestive tract will affect the ability of the fish to absorb nutrients. Adding vitamins will probably help as it gives the fish more of it to try to absorb. That in turn helps the immune system which will help to heal the external symptoms. Hence i suggested feeding the fish hex to take care of the internal symptoms.

[aggrofishkeeper]

The word "crater" instantly told me it was HITH disease. But I could be wrong, there is other conditions that have the same symptoms. However we can all agree there is something wrong with your Oscar. Therefore I would act immediately by changing water and applying medication. Some say HITH is caused by the use of carbon media or by live feeders that sometimes carry diseases.

[imagirlgeek]

Soaking his food every day in Vita-Chem. Early on, I used Tetracycline with no noticeable improvement. About midway through, I used Ick-Attack since it's organic, with no noticeable improvement. Since soaking his food in vitamins, the top sore is completely healed and the bottom sore is almost gone. It's been 6 1/2 weeks since the sores showed up. The vitamin recommendation came from an aquatic vet I emailed.

[Zulaab]

It honestly sounds like what I'm going through with the giraffe catfish.

If Cope can confirm this, I can offer up what I'm doing to treat it.

Very potentially the same..
What did you do to resolve Hoover's problems ?

[imagirlgeek]

It honestly sounds like what I'm going through with the giraffe catfish.

If Cope can confirm this, I can offer up what I'm doing to treat it.

[Mzungu]

I have also not heard of a bump or sore turning into a crater/hole with any diagnosis of HITH.

[imagirlgeek]

My only concern with the HITH diagnosis is the description of a bump the size of a small marble. I've not personally experienced HITH, but I don't remember anyone ever describing a bump rupturing and becoming a wound. I always thought the craters formed without the appearance of nodules or sores. Can someone confirm or deny this?

[armthehomeless]

I wouldn't treat until you are positive there is something wrong. When you are positive about that, then be positive about exactly WHAT is wrong.

More info is needed for us to help. It's poissible that all you need to do is up the water changes, or feed differently, or something that won't be as drastic as medicating when nothing is wrong.

+1

[nacra99]

Please post a pic if possible. It might be a number of things including Hole-In-The-Head.

Here's a pic of a discus with HITH (the external manifestation of Heximita). Externally, hex starts out as a pimple which grows and erupts into a sore, which if not taken care of, can eat away the flesh.

http://www.geocities.com/acuariogratis2/aditivos/hexamita.jpg

But chances are Large Cichlid (Oscar) + pimple erupting into a sore is quite possible HITH or Hex

If Hex, in addition to adding metronidazole to the water (as mentioned above), you want to try to get him to eat some of it too. Mix up some with frozen bloodworms or brine shrimp and allow to sit for 15 min or so and then feed it to him.

Remember that Metro targets mostly anaerobic bacteria and if the wound is huge, you are going to need another anti-biotic in the water to keep the external sore from developing secondary infections. I recommend Erythromycin (commonly available as Maracyn), which you can dose in the water. Or if you don't mind the smell, melafix may work as well together with the metro treatment.

Good Luck!

[Mzungu]

Even with our advice, it's hard to recover from HTH. Good luck.

Not sure about this. I'm not even sure the scientific community has yet identified the causes of HITH, and if it is indeed one single thing that causes it, such as a virus, bacteria, etc.

The holes won't miraculously close up, but they will look better over time, and shouldn't get any worse, IF this is what is wrong with your oscar, and IF the cause(s) is eliminated.

[Mzungu]

I wouldn't treat until you are positive there is something wrong. When you are positive about that, then be positive about exactly WHAT is wrong.

More info is needed for us to help. It's poissible that all you need to do is up the water changes, or feed differently, or something that won't be as drastic as medicating when nothing is wrong.

[aggrofishkeeper]

Even with our advice, it's hard to recover from HTH. Good luck.